Dallas nurse who survived Ebola gets new ring

DALLAS — A Dallas nurse who survived Ebola has a new engagement ring to replace the one destroyed when her apartment was decontaminated during her treatment.

Amber Vinson and fiance Derrick Markray on Tuesday picked out a ring, at no charge, from a Zale Corp. store in Dallas, according to WFAA-TV.

Vinson is an intensive care unit nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. She was among the medical team that treated Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, who died of the disease Oct. 8.

Vinson was later diagnosed with the disease and, while she was under medical care, her personal belongings were destroyed as part of the decontamination process.

“I took off all my jewelry, thinking that my jewelry would be safer at home than in the hospital,” Vinson said. “And when the decontamination team came in, everything that was on the surface was swiped into a bin for incineration. My jewelry box being on my nightstand was one of those things that got destroyed.”

Chris Nieto, with Dallas-based Zale, said the jewelry company wanted to help.

“It was really important that we went ahead and wanted to step up and help to get her something to help celebrate her life and certainly express love,” Nieto said.